


'tis the season

by dragulamutual



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Christmas, fun No Sad Allowed family times with the laytons, kat/em is mentioned but not a focus, lucy & ernest are mentioned but not enough to warrant a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 06:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17934440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragulamutual/pseuds/dragulamutual
Summary: katrielle can't find a decent present for alfendi, and it's driving her insane.( a secret santa gift for danny from christmas '18. )





	'tis the season

If there is one thing that Katrielle knows for certain, it’s that she is the best ever at buying gifts. As far as she’s aware, there’s no competition; if there was, though, she’d win. Definitely.

...Actually, maybe not this year.

If she’s being honest - which she always is, of course - finding a present for Alfendi is turning out to be reallyly bloody hard. She’d tried texting Lucy to ask, but she was absolutely no help and suggested macarons - Kat wanted something personal. The previous evening, in between reruns of old Friends episodes and sappy festive films, she’d also asked Emiliana, who didn’t offer much either. ‘I don’t see why you’re so set on such extravagant gestures, carrisima,’ she’d replied, sighing and stroking Kat’s hair when she looked up at her with puppy dog eyes to rival Ernest’s. ‘Isn’t it enough to simply wish him well?’

Lo and behold, it is not enough, but just for a second Kat considers it anyway. The town centre is packed - an unavoidable side effect of leaving Christmas shopping until 4:30 on Christmas Eve - and as she weaves her way through the streets, she begins to lose hope of finding anything vaguely resembling a suitable gift at all. The festive gods, however, seem to look down upon her and grant her mercy because as she rounds a corner, the perfect gift comes into view.

It’s a hand-knitted, warm-looking burgundy and black striped jumper in the M&S window. Kat’s eyes narrow and she strides through the crowd of people, pushing her way to the entrance. The jumper hangs on a rack next to a mannequin that models it and a matching hat and scarf set - she decides to pick those up too, why the hell not - and it’s the last one left, so she makes a beeline for it.

The woman standing next to the rack turns when she hears the sound of Katrielle’s heeled boots clicking towards her, eyes narrowing. Her arm reaches out and she closes her hand around the hanger that the jumper is on. Kat looks up at the woman in confusion, and then down at her hand. Woman. Hand. Woman. Hand. Finally, she opens her mouth to speak. ‘Hi, excuse me, sorry- uh, are you gonna buy that?’ she questions, gesturing to the jumper. ‘Because I really wanted to get it for my brother, see, he’s really weird about things like this and he only ever wears one type of jumper - I’m convinced he owns, like, four of the same one - and, I, yeah! I, uh. I want the jumper.’

Tall Blonde Lady stares at Katrielle like she’s grown a second head and started speaking Russian. ‘Yes, I’m buying it. It’s for my husband.’ Damn heterosexuals, Kat thinks, stealing her gifts. What the hell is she supposed to do now? In the middle of her lament, though, said husband decides he needs Tall Blonde Lady’s attention and screams her name across the store. With a scowl, she snatches her hand from on top of the hanger and prances toward him. She only seems to realise that she didn’t grab the jumper when she’s a good few metres away. Kat turns and smiles at her, wide-eyed with pure disdain held in her gaze, and takes the jumper (along with the hat set, of course) to the till.

When she gets back to the family house, the smell of spices and coffee hit her instantly. They’ve been baking without her - normally an inexcusable crime, but she’s too happy with her gift choice to care. ‘Daaaaaaaaad!’ she shouts in an over-the-top sing-songy voice. Hershel appears out of the kitchen, face covered in flour. ‘Hello, love!’ he smiles, beginning to walk towards her for a hug but changing his mind midway, noticing her glance at his chocolate-coated hands. ‘Everything in order?’

‘Yeah, it’s great! Do you have any wrapping paper left over, though? I’ve done nearly all of mine, but I need to, uh,’ - she casts a quick look around to check if Alfendi’s anywhere nearby - ‘finish wrapping Al’s. I’m very late.’

‘There’s some in your room, I think! Do you need my help?’ asks Hershel, and Kat shakes her head.

‘Go and finish being Mary Berry. I’m sure Luke is faltering hugely without you.’

‘Flora’s in there too, he’ll be fine,’ he replies, walking back into the kitchen regardless. ‘Good luck! Love you!’ ‘Love you too!’ shouts Kat, and heads up the stairs.

Her room is really more of a guest room now that she’s living with Emiliana, but Hershel still insists on making her feel at home as much as possible. The wrapping paper is propped up against one of the pastel yellow walls, and she gets to wrapping the jumper and accessories immediately, finishing them off with a bow. When she hears Alfendi walk upstairs, she sneaks downstairs and places it beneath the tree with the rest of the family’s gifts.

At no later than six thirty on Christmas morning, Flora comes running into the room, switching on a light and waking Katrielle in seconds. ‘Moooooorning, sunshine!’ she beams. Kat rubs her eyes and sits up wearily, still unsure of how Flora always has this much energy this early. ‘Present time!’ she practically sings, and runs down the hallway, presumably to wake Luke. When everyone is awake enough to do so, the present-opening commences.

‘Is this a train set?’ questions Luke, looking across the floor to where Hershel sits, sipping his tea.

‘I know you may be rather old for them now, but I saw it and couldn’t resist,’ he explains.

‘I love it - thank you!’ Luke grins, throwing the wrapping paper down into the ever-growing pile in the middle of the circle they’re sat in.

‘If you like that, you’re going to love mine,’ smirks Al, and gestures to a smaller, hastily wrapped parcel to the right of Luke. It turns out to be an ‘I Like Trains’ asdfmovie t-shirt - obviously given sarcastically, but received as if it were made of gold by Luke, who puts it on over his elf pyjamas. Flora unwraps perfumes, art supplies, and a surprisingly well-thought-out blue and white dress from Al - ‘You can match Kat, now, we’ll look like the bloody Brady Bunch,’ he snarks but grins in earnest when he sees her face light up. Kat’s gift of a charm bracelet goes down well with her dad, especially when he notices the seven charms she’s included: a flute, a circus tent, a small, custom-made Azran egg (that’d cost a fortune, may she add, and earned her some strange looks from the workers in Pandora), a gold-plated apple, a tiny sword, a clock, and a little disk with the masks of Thalia and Melpomene. In return, he gives her a flowy white skirt and a gift card to the bakery down the road - an incredibly smart move.

Finally, Al grabs the wrapped jumper and shakes it, trying to determine what’s inside. He can’t, and glares at Kat.

‘You’re not making this easy for me, are you?’

‘Shut up and open it,’ she insists in reply, holding her breath slightly as he does.

Alfendi has never been one for grand displays of emotion, but his eyes brighten as he figures out what it is.

‘God damn it,’ he starts, a sly smile creeping onto his lips, ‘now I can’t get away with the same bloody jumper every day. You’re going to expect me to wear this one now.’ She smiles and points at the hat.

‘Not just that. They match.’ He rolls his eyes in the usual over-exaggerated manner, pulling the hat out of its packaging.

‘Fucking hell,’ - a warning look from Hershel - ‘I’m going to look like an elf,’ he groans.

Later that morning, when they’re all huddled around the dining table for breakfast, Katrielle catches Al’s gaze. ‘Thank you,’ he mouths, patting the jumper he’s now wearing. ‘It’s comfy.’

God, she’s good with gifts.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr - dragulamutual


End file.
